Is Diversity Necessary for a Successful Workplace?

Top tech companies hire mostly male Caucasians

Over the last few months, several high-tech powerhouses have released the demographics of their workforce. Google, the first Silicon Valley company to do so, revealed in May that its staff is 70 percent male, 61 percent Caucasian (and 30 percent Asian). LinkedIn and Yahoo followed suit by showing that each has a more diverse workforce than Google, but not by much.

One obstacle to diversity claimed by Google is that women earn only about 18 percent of all computer science degrees in the United States, while blacks and Hispanics earn fewer than 5 percent. But some argue that it’s not only about education but also the hiring process. A Wall Street Journal blog cites laziness as the main reason why companies fail to recruit talented workers from different backgrounds, hiring those they already know or are familiar with.

Do you believe it’s important for companies to have a diverse workforce? Why aren’t tech companies hiring talent from underrepresented groups?

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